An extension of Purcell's vector method with applications to panel element equations

The classical Purcell's vector method, for the construction of solutions to dense systems of linear equations is extended to a flexible orthogonalisation procedure. Some properties are revealed of the orthogonalisation procedure in relation to the classical Gauss-Jordan elimination with or without pivoting. Additional properties that are not shared by the classical Gauss-Jordan elimination are exploited. Further properties related to distributed computing are discussed with applications to panel element equations in subsonic compressible aerodynamics. Using an orthogonalisation procedure within panel methods enables a functional decomposition of the sequential panel methods and leads to a two-level parallelism.

A higher order Hopfield network for vector quantisation

A higher order version of the Hopfield neural network is presented which will perform a simple vector quantisation or clustering function. This model requires no penalty terms to impose constraints in the Hopfield energy, in contrast to the usual one where the energy involves only terms quadratic in the state vector. The energy function is shown to have no local minima within the unit hypercube of the state vector so the network only converges to valid final states. Optimisation trials show that the network can consistently find optimal clusterings for small, trial problems and near optimal ones for a large data set consisting of the intensity values from the digitised, grey-level image.

Support vector machines for regression and applications to software quality prediction

Software metrics are the key tool in software quality management. In this paper, we propose to use support vector machines for regression applied to software metrics to predict software quality. In experiments we compare this method with other regression techniques such as Multivariate Linear Regression, Conjunctive Rule and Locally Weighted Regression. Results on benchmark dataset MIS, using mean absolute error, and correlation coefficient as regression performance measures, indicate that support vector machines regression is a promising technique for software quality prediction. In addition, our investigation of PCA based metrics extraction shows that using the first few Principal Components (PC) we can still get relatively good performance.

A clear direction

Comments on the House of Lords decision in Thorner v Curtis, also referred to as Thorner v Major, on whether an unpaid farm labourer could rely on assurances made by the farmer that he would inherit the farm, to establish proprietary estoppel when the farmer died intestate. Considers whether the assurances had been clear and whether the property to be inherited could be specifically identified. Notes the Lords' consideration of the possible existence of a constructive trust. [From Legal Journals Index]

Mode shape expansion using perturbed force vector approach

A new technique for mode shape expansion in structural dynamic applications is presented based on the perturbed force vector approach. The proposed technique can directly adopt the measured incomplete modal data and include the effect of the perturbation between the analytical and test models. The results show that the proposed technique can provide very accurate expanded mode shapes, especially in cases when significant modelling error exists in the analytical model and limited measurements are available.